Why are events so powerful? We rounded up 16 experiential marketing experts, from Refinery29’s Philippe Von Borries to Mirrorball’s Stephen Papageorge, to explain.
“Experiential marketing is a brand earning the right to have people talk about them.” – Rachel Veiga, Advertising & Partnership Manager at H&M (@rachelveiga)
“I think an event is a very strong statement as to what your brand stands for.” – Stephen Papageorge, Chief Creative Officer of Mirrorball (@mirrorballagncy)
“The real goal is to be able to create a memory that people will have for the rest of their lives. That’s what every event producer tries to do.” – Adam Aleksander, an NYC-based Experiential Designer (@adamaleksander)
“Events were the first place that our brand really arrived.” – Ben Lerer, Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures and co-founder & CEO of Thrillist Media Group (@benjlerer)
“Events have remained a critical ingredient of our entire success strategy.” – Philippe Von Borries, Co-Founder of Refinery29 (@refinery29)
“There’s sort of a rational and there’s an emotional reason why we do events. Maybe a spiritual reason...” – Piers Fawkes, Founder & Editor-in-Chief at PSFK (@piers_fawkes)
“You don’t have to tell your consumers: ‘This is what I’m doing.’ You show them.” – Tina Wung, Digital Strategy Manager at Anheuser-Busch InBev (@tina_wung)
“Events are a part of our genetics. It’s part of our DNA.” – Danielle Deabler, Director of Audience Engagement & New Ventures at NPR (@nprdeabs)
“Being together in person allows this to happen in a magical way. It’s amazing.” – Kim Last, Senior Events Editor at Fast Company (@kimlast)
Ben Hindman is co-founder and CEO of Splash, the country's fastest-growing event marketing platform that helps businesses and brands more effectively market through their events. An event planner turned tech entrepreneur, events are in Ben’s DNA. Prior to starting Splash, Ben was the Director of Events at Thrillist, where he produced large-scale events from concerts to mystery fly-aways. He also co-founded the invite-only Summit Series, a premier event which attracts the world's leading entrepreneurs. Before that, Ben founded and sold DC By Foot, DC's only free walking tour company. In another life, Ben goes by Benny Beatbox, and has performed at the White House and on stage with Naughty by Nature – but not at the same time.